Jesus’ Design for the Christian Life
—John 17:14–26
- Andrew Fountain – July 21, 2019
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Goal
That we would clearly understand
Jeremy Keith: Design Principles
Matthew 28
- And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
- Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
- teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age”
Design Principles
- Something you nail to the wall and use to guide all your decisions
- If we all agree on the principles, they can keep us on track and help us resolve differences
- Otherwise things will just drift
Jesus’ design for the Christian life
- Believe and be baptized
- Baptism is 2 parts: Outside & Inside.
- Outside you are clearly identifying yourself as part of the Christian community (…into the body of believers.)
- Inside you are showing Jesus your commitment—symbolically re-enacting your unity with him in his death and resurrection
Jesus’ Design Principles
- Is he right about Jesus’ design principles for his followers?
- “do unto other as you would have them do unto you” [Matt 7:1]
- It he right that this has tended to get lost in bureaucracy?
John 17: Design Principle A
How we relate to the world
- We do not belong to the world,
- just as Jesus does not belong to the world
- But we are to live as part of the world
Jesus’ design for the Christian life
- Believe and be baptized
- Live as part of the world, yet be clearly different to it
John 17: Design Principle B
- We are sent into this world, just as Jesus was
- Just as Jesus was “dedicated” to this task [holy], so are we to be
- This happens by means of “truth”
Jesus’ design for the Christian life
- Believe and be baptized
- Live as part of the world, yet be clearly different to it
- We are sent to represent Jesus to the world—be 100% dedicated to this
- We cannot do this without being transformed by God’s truth (given to us in the Bible)
John 17: Design Principle C
- The goal is that the world will believe our “testimony”
- that is: that Jesus is from God
- they will believe this when they see supernatural love and unity between us
Jesus’ design for the Christian life
- Believe and be baptized
- Live as part of the world, yet be clearly different to it
- We are sent to represent Jesus to the world—be 100% dedicated to this
- We cannot do this without being transformed by God’s truth (given to us in the Bible)
- The world learns of God’s love by seeing our love and unity
- This is only possible by the life of Jesus in us (through the Spirit)
John 17: Design Principle D
- This love has a second purpose: Our destiny, united with Jesus
Jesus’ design for the Christian life
- Believe and be baptized
- Live as part of the world, yet be clearly different to it
- We are sent to represent Jesus to the world—be 100% dedicated to this
- We cannot do this without being transformed by God’s truth (given to us in the Bible)
- The world learns of God’s love by seeing our love and unity
- This is only possible by the life of Jesus in us (through the Spirit)
- Our destiny: with Jesus, at his side, forever